Eboo Patel is the founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a Chicago-based institution building the global interfaith youth movement. Eboo’s core belief is that religion is a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division. He has spoken about this vision at places like the TED conference, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, as well as college and university campuses across the country. He writes regularly for The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Huffington Post. Author of the award-winning book Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation (2007), he holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar. In 2009 Eboo was named by US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders of 2009.